Apple now suing Motorola over XOOM design in Europe

We mostly stick to Android news that happens stateside, but this just had to be brought up. Recently, Samsung received a preliminary injunction on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 so that it couldn’t be sold anywhere in Europe except the Netherlands. The suit is against Apple (shocking I know). After ‘winning,’ Apple is once again tooting its own patent horn, suing Motorola over the XOOM design in Europe. This is yet another patent war that has been going on between Apple and Motorola, where over 40 patents between the two companies are supposedly being infringed upon. This new lawsuit takes things to a whole different level though.

While we have mentioned once or twice that the whole Galaxy line has a striking similarity to Apple’s products, going after Motorola’s XOOM is just plain crazy. First off, the XOOM has been released for months, and only now Apple has decided to file this new lawsuit. Why not just file it when the XOOM was first released? More than likely, Apple believes that if they can keep one tablet from being sold, they can now push for other tablets as well.

The only other problem with that is that XOOM bears no resemblance to the iPad in any way. So is Apple really trying to say that any device that is rectangular and has a touchscreen is copying their design? It kind of sounds like it.

We don’t know where this case will lead, or how Samsung’s recent loss will affect them (they are looking to appeal the case). We just thought we should show everyone just how out of hand Apple is getting with their patents. We will say that Android has grown too much for it to be stopped with smartphones, hopefully these lawsuits won’t delay the same thing in the tablet world.

[via BGR]